Cut flower package

ABSTRACT

A package for cut flowers is made of flexible material having a champagne glass shape. The lower part of the package grips the stems and the upper part of the package shields and protects the blossoms while allowing ample space for the blossoms to breath.

United States Patent Inventor Gerald L. Gregoire San Francisco, Calif. 692,571 Dec. 21, 1967 Jan. 19, 197 l Gregoire Flowers, Inc. San Francisco, Calif. a corporation of California Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee CUT FLOWER PACKAGE 2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 229/53, 229/87, 47/41 Int. Cl... 865d [50] Field ofSearch 229/87,53;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 ,376,666 4/1968 Leonard 47/41 3,448,915 6/1969 Schwarzkopf 229/53 Primary ExaminerDavid M. Bockenek Attorney- Fryer, Tjensvold, Feix, Phillips & Lempio ABSTRACT: A package for out flowers is made of flexible material having a champagne glass shape. The lower part of the package grips the stems and the upper part of the package shields and protects the blossoms while allowing ample space for the blossoms to breath.

.spoilageandrottingg q .Itistherefore a primaryobject-of the present invention to .the packages are'made.

cur FLOWER PACKAGE Thisinventionrelates to'packaging and more particularly to packaging of cutfl'owers. 7

'The particular field for whichthis packaging technique is I designed is f in the p k g g a handling of cu! flowers.

' There'are several different techniques generally employed 7 for packaging and'handling cut flowers. Among these is the technique of simply rolling the cut flowers and stemsin wrapping paper where the final package hasa generally conical shape. Anotherhas been to employ a preformed conically shaped package; where the stems of the cut; flowers are contained in the smaller section and the blossoms are contained in thelarge'rsection. a

While eachof these prior art packaging techniouesshields the cut flower blossoms,.they both" have the distinct disadvantage of tightIybunching the blossoms together. .T his bunching results in two injurious effects to the blossoms. First,

it cancause blossom crushing, especially where the upper part In FIGS. -1 through'4 a package constructed in accordance of the package contacts the blossoms. Second, and more serious, the bunching causesthe: blossomsto perspire without adequate space for air circulation. The .moisture, produced by this perspiration :collects on the blossomsand cancause package cut flowers in a way that will protect. the blossoms andreduce or 'eliminatezthe crushing and rotting. of the cut flowers. This is accomplished in the present invention by using a package that has a champagne glass shape. The lower, narrow part of the package grips the stems andthe upper, wider part of the packagej shields and protects "the blossoms. The upper part ofthe package-performsthe' shielding function while allowing ample space for. the blossoms to breathe'and transpire. Sincethe'blossoms'are loose and free in the upper 'partof the package, .theyare freeyto breathe or transpire without condensing moisture. The. blossoms are therefore prevented from r ottiitg'. Y i I 1' 'Thepackage design-of the present-:invention-readily lendsitself to a simple method of manufacturefl'he package configurations are such thatthey maybe sealed andcut from an ex-. 'truded plastic tube, without waste of the. material from which In addition, the package design is such that it also permits'a convenient and simple method for loading the'flowers into the package. The packages are nested-in bunches of 50 or more and are placedgover-the open end .ofia pipe; The packagesare then applied to..the flower bunchesby inserting the stems of a -flower bunch into the pipe and then pulling one individual package out of the nested bunch of packages and onto the individual flower bunch. Because, the package is tapered, it can a be nested and it not necessary to pick up' and open an individual package as would be the "case with a flat sided package. I A packaging technique having these specific features effective to function in the. manner described constitutes a further object of the present invention.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent frorn the fo!lowing description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment'of the present invention and the principles thereof and what are now considered to he the best modes contemplated'for applying these principles.

.Other embodiments of the invention'embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and. the purview of the appended clairns.

IN THE o AwihGs FIG. 1 is a top elevation view of a package, in the collapsed position, constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the paekag'e opened and ready to receive cut flowersi' edges 27'and 29 are sealed by heat sealing. I FIG. 4 shows the package with cutflowers inside, From a FIG. 4 it can be'seen that the stems 21 of the flower bunch are supported by the lower part 13. The package is designed to ac- I FIG, .2 :is an end elevation view of the package shown in FIG. I with the, package partly opened; y v

ofFlG. I when FIGS 2 and 3 with flowers contained therein; a FIG. 5 is a top elevation view showing the method .of manufacturing packages in accordance with the present invention; and. FIG. 6 is a side elevation view showing a method of loading the flowers in thefp'ackage in accordance'with the present inv er'ition.

with' 'the preferred embodiment of the present invention is indicated generally byv the reference numeralll. FIGSI l and 2 illustrate the package 11 in the collapsedor-flat position,

whereas tion. Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 3, thepackage II ineludes a lower open 'end portion 13, a midportionlS, and an FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the package in the open posiupper open end portion 17. These three parts of the package are generally 'positioned between thc dotted line's A-B, B-C

iand C5D. As best shown in FIGS IS and-4, the lower part'l3 had'diameters that increase gradually in the upward direction.

Thispart of the package is dimensioned to grip the stems of the flowers'al'ong a'substantial portion of thelength of the stems. The transition portion I 5 hasldiaineters that increase rapidly'in the upward direction. The upperpart 17 has diamete'rs that increase gradually in the'up'ward direction.

The package has a lower openingfl9 and an upper opening 21 for receiving the stems and blossoms;

As be'st'illustrate'd iii-FIG 2, the package is preferably fo ined from two pieced of plastic material 23 and'25, and the commodate different stem lengths, ,Since'the lower end of the 'jstemsimayextend through openingl'9. It shouldjbe particularly not'clthat lower part 13 contains and supports the lower f part of'the stems in a relatively compact or bunched manner.

The'transition part make's'a rapid transitio'n to the upper part 17. Because the stems are supported in this manner, the

blossoms will'be principally supported by the stems and not by the upper part 17 of the package. Therefore, the blossoms are shielded and protected by the upper pa'rtl? of ,the package while still having amplespace for the blossoms to breathe and ltransPir'. i

FIG. S'iIIustrates the'method for manufacturing the package shown in FIGS. 1 through. 4. A polyethylene tube, having sidewalls 35 and 37, is cut toform the individual packages as illustrated. The edges 27, 29, 39 and 41 may be heat sealed as they are cut. The edges 47 and 49 of the tube are trimmed off to open thetops and bottoms of the packages.

' FIG. 6 is an elevation view showing one method .for loading the cut flowers in the package in accordance with the present invention. A hollow pipe 51 has one end open and the other end supported by a support member 53.-The pipe 51 may be supported in the vertical position, with the open end down, as shown, orthe open end up, or it may be positioned horizontal or at some angle depending upon convenience and ease of 'bodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and "I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alternationsas'fall within the purview of the following claims. 1

I claim:

1. A plastic package for cut flowers having a champagne glass configuration in which a lower open end portion of the package is dimensioned to grip the stems of the flowers along a substantial portion of the length of the stems and in which an upper open end portion of the package is dimensioned to permit adequate air circulation about the blossoms to prevent condensation of moisture and rotting of the blossoms and in which the champagne glass curvature of the midportion of the package provides a smoothly curved, rapid transition from the narrow lower end portion to the wide upper end portion to thereby maximize the effectiveness of the stem holding portion of the package and the blossom shielding portion of the 

1. A plastic package for cut flowers having a champagne glass configuration in which a lower open end portion of the package is dimensioned to grip the stems of the flowers along a substantial portion of the length of the stems and in which an upper open end portion of the package is dimensioned to permit adequate air circulation about the blossoms to prevent condensation of moisture and rotting of the blossoms and in which the champagne glass curvature of the midportion of the package provides a smoothly curved, rapid transition from the narrow lower end portion to the wide upper end portion to thereby maximize the effectiveness of the stem holding portion of the package and the blossom shielding portion of the package.
 2. A package for cut flowers having a lower region, a transition region and an upper region, said lower region being elongated and having a generally circular cross section dimensioned to grip the stems of cut flowers along a substantial portion of the length of the stems, said transition region having a generally circular cross section that rapidly increases in diameter in the upward direction, said upper region being elongated and having a generally circular cross section of sufficient diameter to permit the blossoms to breathe without condensation of moisture. 